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25 November 2011

Welcome to our 42nd issue. The year is drifting to a close and as writers, there is so much to reflect upon. Zimbabwe Writers Association is inviting individual writers and writers' associations to a meeting at the national gallery, see details below. Lets attend and share. You can as well go and watch the play "The Father" running at the Nicoz Diamond but read The Regular Writer's review of the play before you go. Art is in town! Enjoy.

FLASHBACK

Students watch a performance at WIN-Zimbabwe one-hour event called "Literary Treats" that took place in July during the 2010 ZIBF

Writers International Network Zimbabwe has a programme for Zimbabwean schools that will see the association, together with its partner (Global Arts Trust), embark on catch-them-young activities aimed at equipping the students with writing, poetry performance, stage acting, scripting and directing skills. WIN-Zimbabwe is working with renowned writers, playwrights, the Ministry of Education, Sport, Art & Culture and other stakeholders to accomplish this goal.

PRESS RELEASE: NAMA CHANGES VENUE

The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) is announcing the change of venue for the 11th Edition of the National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA) from Bulawayo to its traditional venue in Harare.

The announcement comes on the heels of the NACZ’s extensive consultations with hosting partners, Amakhosi, whose assessment of on-the-ground preparedness has revealed inadequacy of resources.“Much as we may want to bring the prestigious event to the City of Kings, it is important to note that we are not ready for something of this magnitude,” Amakhosi’s Artistic Director, Conte Mhlanga (pictured below) said.

While NACZ was committed to taking NAMA to Bulawayo in partnership with Bulawayo-based Amakhosi, the move had intensive budgetary implications, demanding more than doubling the fundraising efforts to make the event a success.In an effort to uphold the quality and standards of the event, the NACZ has accepted recommendations by the hosting partners Amakhosi and other stakeholders to retain NAMA at its traditional venue until there is all-round readiness to ensure that the event retains its brand as the highlight of celebrating milestones in the arts and culture sector.As part of its theme: “Towards Professionalising the Arts”, NACZ has sought the establishment of strategic partnerships in the implementation of programmes within the sector.NAMA is a national event which brings with it the camaraderie of the various artistic disciplines and celebrates talent as deemed by experts in the sector as well as the consumers of the arts through the People’s Choice Awards. While all categories seek to put on a pedestal artistic works across genres, NACZ acknowledges the importance of feedback by consumers of the arts who are responsible for the sector’s growth. It is out of such feedback and stakeholder concerns that fundamental decisions in programme development are considered.Meanwhile, all players are duly reminded of the deadline for submission of NAMA entry forms by the 30th of November, which this year falls on a Wednesday. NAMA seeks to celebrate milestones and merit in the various genres, ensuring that there is room for those in the creative industries to be celebrated in more ways than one.

It is Friday 18, and the world will be celebrating International Men’s Day which normally takes place on November 19 to improve gender relations and promote unity. I was on 7th Floor, in the newly adopted NICOZ DIAMOND theatre watching ‘The Father’, a Swedish play written by August Strindberg and here adapted and directed by local theatre entrepreneur Peter Churu.

In the play, a couple is locked up in a heated argument concerning the upbringing of their daughter. The husband, in most cases, claims sovereignty over his child to a point where the wife feels degraded and she asks the father how he knows if he is the father of the child. A seed of doubt is planted in the father to a cathartic degree.

The play, translated into English by Eivor Martinus, reminded me of a story about a pilot who filed for divorce because he suspected that he was not the biological father of their second child. The pilot went for paternity tests and was shocked when the results showed that he was the father of their second child but not of their first child. The thorny question then is “Who is the father?”

This play challenges a patriarchal society in which the general belief is that a man possesses everything in a home, including the children. Yet, as the story unfolds in ‘The Father’, it is shown that the husband accepts paternity through a wife’s faith and trust.

With the father played by Tinashe Chirisa and the mother played by Yeukai Mhandu, the play further defines the meaning of a child to parents, especially its mother. A child symbolizes power for the woman as she can demand maintenance for the child and a share of wealth after, say, divorce. A mother with a child has power over the future of her husband. The respect and dignity endowed upon a man comes through a woman because she has ‘allowed’ a man fatherly responsibility over her children. To a father, a child means life after death for he shall live through his children. Without a child the man is dead and will not live in the future. Because of these reasons, in ancient times if a couple failed to have children, the family would investigate the problem? If the problem was with the man, the family would secretly arrange for a young brother to sleep with the man’s wife only as a way of securing the elder brother's future. If indeed the problem was with the woman, the husband would be given a sister or niece so she can secure the future of the elder sister.

The play used a lot of poetry, thereby making a strong impact upon the audience. The cast is made up of Musa Saruro who is a theatre graduate from Theory X, Tafadzwa Bob Mutumbi a theatre student at Theory X, Eddington Hatitongwe a theatre graduate from Patsime Edutainment, Tinashe Chirisa whose debut appearance was in the play ‘365 Days’ at Theatre in the Park, Yeukai Mhandu, Rumbidzai Munongi and Rumbidzai Musarurwa who are members of a well-known Highfield-based theatre group Shooting Stars.

Given this cast and the professional directing skills of Peter Churu, what came out was a star performance that lived to its billing.

The play had a five-day run at Nicoz Diamond, Harare, from November 8 to November 13 but by public demand the play is scheduled to re-run at the same venue from November 22 to December 3, 2011.

Speaking to this writer, the production consultant, Walter Muparutsa, who is also a renowned theatre personality, said, “The relevance of the play coincides with the 16 Days of Activism campaign as it draws attention to the role of women in the community. Majority of men take their spouses for granted and the play forces them to re-consider and re-adjust their egos."

Muparutsa also added that they hope to tour the country with the play after its running at Nicoz Diamond.

‘The Father’ is co-produced by Global Arts Trust and Complete Projects, in collaboration with Intergrationsteatern and Stockholm Improvisationteater, supported by the Swedish Arts Council. The Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust, National Arts Council of Zimbabwe and Embassy of Sweden also assisted the production in different ways.

"My ultimate vision as a writer is to become the best writer that I can be. I would like to write the kind of stories that have an impact on who ever reads them. I would like to write stories that entertain as much as they bring a new perspective to the reader, on any given subject or topic. I want to create pieces that induce ‘laugh out loud’ moments as well as stories that have the power to reduce a reader to a teary, snot nosed mess. I want to create unforgettable characters doing unforgettable things. That is my ultimate vision." (Barbara Mhangami-Ruwende - In an exclusive interview with WIN-ZIMBABWE in the WINZ Newsletter, Issue No 41)

INVITATION TO A WRITERS' MEETING, DECEMBER 3, 2011, HARARE

The Zimbabwe Writers Association (ZWA) cordially invites you to the first of its monthly meetings on Saturday 3 December 2011 at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, 20 Julius Nyerere Way, Harare from 2:00pm to 4:30pm in the library extension (upstairs) for the purposes of discussion and readings. You are also reminded to bring your $10 membership fees. A substantive agenda will be sent to you very soon. Remember: the major objective of ZWA is to bring together all willing individual writers and writer organisations of Zimbabwe in order to encourage creative writing, reading and publishing in all forms possible, conduct workshops, and provide for literary discussions.(ZWA Committee, Contact Person: Memory Chirere 263-733755834)

08 November 2011

Our newsletter has a complete look with the Ndebele and Shona columns now in place. Thanks to Sindiso Regina Ngwenya for trailblazing the Ndebele column. We continue to encourage other writers in indigenous languages to submit their work for the columns so that we develop literature in indigenous languages. They are our heritage and proudly Zimbabwean. The Diaspora community is doing a splendid job in promoting Zimbabwean art, let us support them by submitting items for publication. African Roar 2011, published by StoryTime, is being launched twice online, let us participate in large numbers and have opportunity to talk to the contributors.

Keep writing!

WIN-ZIMBABWE BROCHURE READY TO SPREAD WRITING GOSPEL!!!

(With special thanks to the Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust)

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EXCLUSIVE CHAT WITH BARBARA MHANGAMI-RUWENDE

By WIN-Zimbabwe

Barbara Mhangami-Ruwende

Barbara Mhangami –Ruwende was born and raised in Zimbabwe. She left home at the age of eighteen and worked in Germany before embarking on her undergraduate studies at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Barbara moved to the United States in 1997 where she attended the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Walden University. She resides with her husband and 4 daughters. She is passionate about raising her daughters, reading good literature, writing, travelling and running marathons. She is currently working on a short story collection and a novel. WIN-Zimbabwe recently caught up with Mhangami to talk about a few issues relating to writing.

Who is Barbara Mhangami?

Barbara Mhangami is an emerging writer of Zimbabwean origin. She is a wife and a mother to four daughters. She is a runner, a public health professional and an avid consumer of the written word.

What is your ultimate vision as a writer?

My ultimate vision as a writer is to become the best writer that I can be. I would like to write the kind of stories that have an impact on who ever reads them. I would like to write stories that entertain as much as they bring a new perspective to the reader, on any given subject or topic. I want to create pieces that induce ‘laugh out loud’ moments as well as stories that have the power to reduce a reader to a teary, snot nosed mess. I want to create unforgettable characters doing unforgettable things. That is my ultimate vision.

Women writers there are in Zimbabwe, some of them internationally acclaimed, but do their writing count for much in contemporary Zimbabwe?

Two such women writers immediately come to mind and both have had great impact on me as an emerging writer as well as someone who loves to read. Yvonne Vera and Tsitsi Dangarembga have written what I believe are works of great importance to Zimbabwean literature both contemporary and into the future. I have only recently immersed myself in the Zimbabwe literary scene and I have to say that I have come across some wonderful young contemporary Zimbabwean women writers who show great promise: Novuyo Rosa Tshuma, NoViolet Bulawayo (who made us all proud by winning the Caine Prize for Literature earlier this year), Blessing Musariri, Fungai Machirori, Bryony Rheams and Sandisile Tshuma are women whose great talent adds enormous value to contemporary Zimbabwean literature. I also believe that there is a lot more talent to be harnessed and that with more opportunities and exposure there will be many more women writers coming out of Zimbabwe.

What are your favorite issues or themes in your writings?

It seems that the time I spent in the rural areas in Chivi is relived through my writing at the moment. I cannot seem to tear myself away from that setting, perhaps because I am so far away from it both geographically and emotionally. The space I occupy now is so far removed from my time spent in the village, and therefore my imagination and creativity seems to draw from that distant time and space. I am sure if I lived there now, my stories would be about life in a totally different setting. That is the beauty of writing: being able to transport oneself to any place and time and create whatever I want from it all.

I also write about social issues that concern me. I don’t start out with that as my primary goal, but invariably these issues weave themselves into the fabric of my stories. One such story that came as quite a surprise, deals with the issue of being gay in contemporary Zimbabwe. I also write about issues that affect women and the health perspective finds its way into my stories.

Humor is another one of those sneaky qualities that worms its way into my stories, even the serious ones. I laugh a lot and am a prankster at heart and this comes through in my more ridiculous characters or in my descriptions of people, places animals and objects.

What is your advice to new or young authors especially those in Zimbabwe?

I would hardly consider myself worthy enough to give advice, however something which seems to be working well for me that I can share is this: surround yourself with supportive, nurturing, constructive people, who tell you the truth about your talent and who assist you in getting your work up to standard. The gift of storytelling may be there but there might be the need for someone who helps with the mechanics of writing. It is also important to get your stories published, in magazines, anthologies and on line. Rejection is part of the process of finding a home for your work, so don’t let rejections or fear of them intimidate you into not submitting stories for publication. Write as often as possible and read, read, read a variety of different styles and authors. This is very useful in figuring out your own voice, and as with everything else “practice makes perfect”. The more you write the better the quality gets and the more critical you are of your own work, which is a good thing. Write from your gut and tell your story the way it comes to you, rather than trying to be formulaic about it. And don’t limit yourself to one particular theme issue or genre. Try something totally new. Most of all enjoy the process.

What would you want to see in the next five years or so in Zimbabwe's literature and language sector?

What would be totally gratifying is to see young people reading and hungrily searching for books to read. What would be even more wonderful is to see our national and school libraries full of books and young people engaged in reading. I know that with all the technological advances, video games and computer games reading may not be the most fashionable thing among the young. However, I maintain that good books are absolutely essential for both the academic/ intellectual and social development of young people. Well read individuals distinguish themselves in conversations, in their interactions with others and their environment and are able to present various perspectives on life and many issues.

As far as the language sector, I am not really in touch with what is going on in the school system. However I would hope that, much like it was when I was in school, literature is still taught with the same passion and hopefully there are a lot more African authors being read as set books than when I was in school.

DIASPORA PUBLISHERS CALLING FOR POEMS

UK-based Diaspora Publisher is soliciting for English poems from poets around the world. Guidelines for submissions are as follows:

Title of the anthology: Drums of Africa

Length of poems: 20-30 lines

Language: English

Minimum: 5 poems

Maximum: 10 poems

Poems should be original and not previously published. There are no limitations regarding theme. Submissions, accompanied by poet's contact details and photo, should be emailed to diasporapublisher@yahoo.com

KASIBHALENI!

With

Jerry Zondo

Sivele sisenkingeni

Sihlezi sibheke umlindi ongelamkhawulo

Kasihlalanga ngoba siyatshelela

Siwela emgodini ongelamkhawulo

Kasilandawo yokubambelela

Utshani ebesibuthembile bumanzi

Bulamafutha abepheka amatshiphisi

Achithwe butshapha

Bubuye banindwa igirisi

Izandla esibubamba ngazo zilevasilina

Zipikliwe

Besibambe ngazo igirisi

Besizama ukubuyisela iviri leroli

Ebeliphume amabheyeringizi

Isiwele emfuleni onziki imnyama

Umgodi useceleni kwesiziba

Singasila ekuweleni emgodini

Silindelwe yisiziba!

Sivele sisenkingeni!

Umnyama uyasizungeza

Umfasimba uthe nsi emehlweni

Umnyama wezulu ususigubuzele

Liqubuka ngolaka lwemamba

(Jerry Zondo was born in April 1957 at Matopo Mission in Matabeleland South. For his education he went to Matopo, Fletcher High, and proceeded to university. He holds a BA General, BA Special Honors, And Graduate Certificate in Education, Med and has taught at schools, colleges and universities in Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Namibia and the UK on Sabbatical. He did administrative work as head of gallery in Bulawayo and worked for newspapers as a reader. Zondo has published poems in Giya Mthwakazi (Longman), Poetry International Web, Ndebele school textbooks from form one to four and now he has come on WIN Zimbabwe blog to do the column Kasibhaleni.)

AFRICAN ROAR 2011: ONLINE BOOK LAUNCHES!

Come join us for two online launches of 'African Roar 2011'! They will take place at the African Roar site (http://storytime-african-roar.blogspot.com/) on Wednesday the 9th Nov (depending on your time zone, its fixed on the 9th at UTC time, and timed for Africa/Europe/etc., please work out your local time for the event) UTC/GMT 4:30pm to 6:30 pm, and Saturday the 12th Nov (depending on your time zone, its fixed on the 12th at UTC time, and timed for US/Asia/etc., please work out your local time for the event) UTC/GMT 1:30am to 3:30am. There will be a chat app featured where you may log in and interact with the anthology authors and editors in real-time, or sit back and read what they have to say, all from the comfort of your own home. Wednesday the 9th Nov (depending on your time zone, its fixed on the 9th at UTC time, and timed for Africa/Europe/etc., please work out your local time for the event) UTC/GMT 4:30pm to 6:30 pm, and Saturday the 12th Nov (depending on your time zone, its fixed on the 12th at UTC time, and timed for US/Asia/etc., please work out your local time for the event) UTC/GMT 1:30am to 3:30am. There will be a chat app featured where you may log in and interact with the anthology authors and editors in real-time, or sit back and read what they have to say, all from the comfort of your own home.(Ivor W Hartmann)

THE REGULAR WRITER

With

Tinashe ‘Mutumwapavi Muchuri

Reading is the soul of your success

Often times when I sit down with fellow poets to discuss poetry, I discover that few of us have time to read other poets' work. This could explain why it takes some of us ages to understand dynamics of poetry.

Only when a poet reads works by other poets that he/she discovers the strengths and weaknesses in one's writings. It is through reading that the poet brands oneself. It is through reading that a poet can find his/her own voice, which will distinguish him/her from others.

Shunning other poets’ work is like driving through darkness. The result is fatal. A poet who does not read remains stagnant. He does not know where to find fellow poets for networking purposes. This is not healthy to a poet who is serious about taking his/her poetry to greater heights. For a poet to achieve the best, one should be a wide reader.

A poet who reads is a treasure to the society because he/she brings new insights to people. Practice through reading and writing creates a poet who will leave a legacy for posterity. A man who doesn't taste other foods will think that his wife/mother is the best cook. Likewise, a poet who doesn't read others’ works will think that he/she is the best. It is through reading others’ works that poets become creative and innovative. You go outside the box and earn lots of knowledge. You improve on your style and content. If a poet wants to be believed, reading is the medicine. A poet must be hungry for knowledge about latest poetry news such as who has published what and what will be happening in the city for poets.

(Portfer Gwengweni was born in January 1990. He attended Chitete Primary School in Kariba and later went to Chikangwe Primary School in Karoi. For his secondary education, Gwengweni went to Hatcliffe High before proceeding to Chikore Mission in Chipinge for part of his Advanced Level. He then transferred to Mt Pleasant High where he will complete his A Level. During his Ordinary Level, Gwengweni says his room was full of portraits and short stories. His wish is to see people living in harmony with each other.)